Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-03-28
FINANCIAL TROUBLE.

l the ark, all Is well. God shut hlm in. "
There comes upon the good man a
deluge OF
FINANCIAL. TROUBLE.
He had his thousands to lend; now he
cannot borrow dollar. He once owned a
store in New York, and had branch houses
in Boston, Philadelphia and New Orleans
He owned four horses, and employed u
man to keep the dust off his coach, phae-
ton, carriage, and curricle; now he has
hard work to get shoes in which to walk.
The great deep Of commercial disaster was
broken up, and fore, and aft, and across
the hurricane deck, the waves struck him.
But he was safely sheltered from the
storm. The Lord shut him in."
A flood of domestic troubles fell
on him. Sickness and bereave-
ment came. The rain pelted. The
All the gardens OF earthly delight are
washed away. The fountains of JOY are
buried fifteen cubits deep. But, standing
by the empty crib, and in the desolated
nursery, and in the doleful hall, once
ring with merry voices, now silent for
ever, he cried ''The Lord gave, the Lord
hath taken away; blessed be the name of
the Lord" ''The Lord shut him in" All
the sins of lifetime clamored for his over
| throw. The broken vows, the dishOnored
Sabbaths, the outrageous profanities, the
misdemeanors of twenty years, reached up
their hands to the door of the ark to pull
| him out The boundless ocean of his sin
surrounded his soul, bowling like
simeon, raving like an euro
clydon. But, looking out of the window,
he saw his sins sink like lead into the
depths of the sea. The dove of heaven
brought an oliye-branch to the ark. The
wrath of the billow only pushed him to-
ward heaven. 'The Lord shut him in"
The same oor-fastenings that kept Noah
in keep the world out. am glad to know
that when a man reaches heaven all earth
ly troubles are done with him. Here he
may have had it hard to get bread for his
family; there he will never hunger any
more. Here he may have wept bitterly;
there 1.-THE Lamb that is in the midst of
the throne will lead him TO living fountains
of water, and God will wipe away all tears
from his eyes" Here he may have hard
work to get house; but in my Fathers
house are many mansions, and rent-day
never comes. Here there are death
beds, and coffins, and graves;
there no sickness, no weary
watching, no choking cough, no consuming
fever, no chattering chill, no tolling bell,
no grave. The sOrrows of life shall come
up and knock at the door, but no admit
lance. Safe forever All the agony of
the earth in one wave dashing against the
bulwarks of the ship of celestial light shall
not break them down. Howl on, We
winds, and rage, ye seas The l.Ord-"the
Lord shut him in.'
., what
A GRAND OLD DOOR
so wide, so easily swung both ways, and
with such sure iastcnings. No burglars
key can pick that lock No swarthy arm
of hell can shove back the bolt | rejoice
that | do not ask you to come aboard
crazy craft with leaking hulk, and broken
helm, and unfastened door; but an ark
fifty cubits wide, and three hundred cubts
long, and door 80 large that the round
earth, without grazing the posts, might be
bowled in
Now, if the ark of Christ is so grand u
place in which to live, and die, and tri-
umph. come into the ark Know well
that the door that shut Noah in shut the
world ont; and though, when the pitileSs
storm came pelting on their heads, they
beat upon the door, saying: Let me in !
let me in" the door did not open. For
one hundred and twenty years they were
invited They expected to come in; but
the Antediluvians said: I'VE must cult
vate these fields; we must he worth more
tlOcks of sheep and herds of cattle; we will
wit until we get a little older; We will Ell
Joy our old farm little longer" But
meanwhile the storm was brewing The
fountains of heaven were filling up. The
pry was being placed beneath the founda-
tiOns of the great deep. The last year had
come. the last month, the last week, the
last day, the last hour, the last moment.
In an awful dash, an ocean dropped from
the sky, and another rolled up from be-
meath; and God rolled the earth and sky
into one wave of universal destruction.
SO men now
put OFF GOING INTO TIE ARK.
They say they will wait twenty years
first. They will have little longer time
with their worldly associates. They will
wait until they get older. They say:
lyon cannot expect man Of my attain
ments and of my position 10 surrender my
self Just now. But before the storm comes,
| will 90 in. Yes, will. ] know what
am about. Trust me-" After awhile,
one night about twelve o'clock, going
home, he passes scaflolding rs a gust Of
wind strikes it, and a plank falls. Dead!
aud outside the ark. Or, riding in the
Park, reckless vehicle crashes into him,
and his horse becomes unmanageable, and
he shouts, whoa! Whoa and takes an
other twist in the reins, and pulls back.
But no use II il not 80 much down
the avenue that he files a. on the
way to eternity. Out OF the
wreck of the crash his body is drawn, but
his soul is not picked up. 1t fled behind
swifter cOurser into the great future.
Dead! and outside the ark! Or, some
night, he wakes up with a distress that
mOmentarily increases, until he shrieks
out with pain. The doctors come in, and
they give him twenty drops, but no relief
forty drops, fifty drops, sixty drops, but
no relief. No time for prayer. No time
TO read one Of the the promises. No time
to get a single sin pardOned. The whole
house is aroused in alarm. The children
scream. The wife faints. The pulses fail.
The heart stops. The soul flies. oh, my
God! dead! and outside the ark!
have no doubt that
DERIsIoN KEPT MANY PEOPLE OFT
of the ark. The world laughed to see
man 20 in, and said: Here Is a man
starting for the ark. Why, there will he
no deluge. If there il one, that mEserable
ship will not weather it, Aha going into
the ark Well, that is too good to keep.
Here, fellows, have you heard the news
This man is going into the ark" Under
this artillery of scorn the mans good resO-
lutiOns perished.
And so there are hundreds kept out by
fear Of derisiOD. The young man asks
himself: What would they say at the
store tomorrow morning if should be-
come christian? When go down to the
clubhouse they would shout: Here comes
that new Christian. Suppose you will
not have anything to do with rs now.
Suppose you are praying now. Get down
| IN your knees and let us hear Won pray.